fatmat

stop being afraid of butter and cream - they make food taste great

adding green and blue food colouring to baked beans, with garlic powder and chilli - to make them 'better'

Pastizzi are eaten throughought the day, but mostly mid morning - In Malta they cost pennies. The pastry recipe seems to be a closely guarded secret. The ricotta ones are the most popular. Fresh made, straight from the oven, they are one of my favourite snacks. As far as Kinnie is concerned - It is a bitter orange drink and was developed as Malta's alternative to Coke. I think it tastes better. Pepsi have a copy called Crest which tastes vile.

There is a cider revival in the UK at the moment - there are some fantastic ciders available from the supermarkets and offies. Waitrose has one of the best ranges. I'd recommend working your way thorugh them to find the style that suits you. Don't forget perry too - pear cider. You'll also find some good cider's at farmer's markets - with the opportunity to have a try as well. As far as pub ciders are concerned, these are the worst of British ciders, and do the drink's reputation no favours. Most of them are sweetened with sorbitol. Cider has a reputation for causing bad guts - In general this is the fault of sorbitol, which has a laxative effect

If you are looking for good Indian/Asian food, take a trip to Southall - You can get the train from Paddington Station. It contains London's largest Asian community. There you'll finde genuine Indian cuisine, from cafe's as opposed to restaurants. Rita's Samosa Centre, on Southall Broadway is a good place to start, but there are plenty to choose from. Also take time to take a look in the sweet centres and grocery shops.

The Borough Market, Southwark - London Bridge Tube station - Saturday. Personally, if you are visiting London, as a foodie this is a must - It's London biggest farmer's/gourmet market. Go early because it gets really busy - I like to get there for 8:00am, to enjoy the luxury of a leisurely browse. Don't worry if you don't have access to a kitchen, there are plenty of goodies to eat on the move whilst you are there and take back to a hotel room. Borough Market

Personally, I'd avoid both wine and beer, and go for a good cider. I think that cider makes the best accompaniment for curry, one that has sadly been overlooked. Cider made with Kingston Black apples is sharp, fruity and ever so slightly bitter - almost like a liquid chutney. Here is a link to a good one that I have tried... Sheppy's

blue cheese and walnut

Just another use to add to the list... Lard is absolutely essential, IMO, for making good Yorkshire Pudding.

Don't know what you call European style, but it seems that really fresh cream gives a rich yellow butter, like Welsh butter, and stale cream yields a paler butter... does this help at all?

You can say it 500 times in a row but that isn't going to make it true. ← ok

The comparison was on the basis of culinary value. I'm interested in the food bit - end product, on the plate and in the belly. Tumeric is without a doubt far more useful and important, yet is treated with comparative irreverence (I'm just using tumeric as an example, it could be any one of a multitude of flavourings that are of greater culinary significance than saffron)

I agree - tumeric has a great colour and flavour, yet where is the reverence? ← But tumeric DOES NOT TASTE like saffron. It tastes like tumeric. ← yes... your point being?

I agree - tumeric has a great colour and flavour, yet where is the reverence?

The fact that you don't think it's so great doesn't mean that it isn't worth every penny to those of us who swoon at the first whiff of it. Trust me, the situation is that there is something you don't "get" or understand, not that saffron is an "OK" flavor. And more power to you for not thinking it's such a big deal! ← It's good, just not that good

I know.. it looks like I'm doing something very illegal, doesn't it. ← If you bring out scales, mirrors and razor blades, I'm gonna get worried

That's fine, but there are plenty of people in the world who view things differently. What is important is that one should strive to cook using the best ingredients available to them at any given moment, keeping in mind that what one views as "the best" differs from one person to another and also according to circumstance. There are no right or wrong answers. I know this is not the provocative answer you were looking for, but I really do believe in that ideal. ← To avoid wandering off on a debate about cultural relativism, I was only saying that Saffron is good, but not that good. I still maintain that it is given far more press than it is actually worth as an ingredient. I feel that amongst the culinary world there is a tendency to attach disproportionate value to expensive ingredients - a little like culinary diamonds

I know why it's expensive, does not mean that it's abound with culinary value proportionate to it's cost ← Different people view things differently. Doesn't negate the value or worth of an item. It is what it is. For me, its worth comes from what it adds to dishes that it enhances most. Its an item to be savored with care. I recognize its value and so act accordingly. Fleur de sel or sel gris (to use your salt analogy) is expensive and value-laden. You can use regular salt in place of it, but there are times when you want to use its rarefied counterpart. I don't know about you but if we solely used ingredients that were mundane, the world would be a boring place indeed. ← I use the best ingredients I can possibly afford for any dish I cook. I draw a huge distinction between best and expensive. I also believe that there is a tendency for cooks to try and make things better by adding expense, when the reality is that the expense is not worth the outcome. Finally, I don't use Fleur de Sel, as I believe that it is the Emperor's New clothes

I know why it's expensive, does not mean that it's abound with culinary value proportionate to it's cost

The question is... what came first, the value or the worth? Do people value them because they are truly worthy or because they are valuable?

I guess that it's safe to leave salt out then... ← You can totally leave salt out of a paella because the things you inevitably put in it are pretty salty -- sausage, seafood, etc. Saffron? No way. ← Except that you would have still added salt indirectly, so you didn't omit

Saffron seems to take up a whole pile of glory for an ingredient of 'relative' niche value. Do folks think that it's cash value has anything to do with this?

I guess that it's safe to leave salt out then...

Is this a trick question? really--saffron is expensive on a purely weight based cost. In reality a very little goes a long way-- so on a pure per use cost it is well worth it (and not that expensive)--it is all relative. As already noted here-saffron provides a unique flavor (it is not about the color only otherwise turmeric would be a valid substitute). as with many things-one either enjoys the flavor of saffron or not. for my taste-I can not imagine a paella (or a Milanese risotto) without good quality saffron--it is integral to these dishes. ← No trick, just commenting on how folks wax lyrical about the great and glorious saffron, when it's ok, but not that great really. Seriously speaking, salt is far more valuable to me as an ingredient, and probably to most folks. I feel that saffron is regarded as a king of spices because of it's price, not it's worth.

Is that scarcity over culinary value and effectiveness? I know which one I'd not miss